The Complete Talking Heads: The classic BBC Radio 4 monologues plus A Woman of No Importance

The complete audio collection of Alan Bennett's celebrated monologues, published together for the first time and performed by some of Britain's best actors. The Talking Heads monologues are widely regarded as one of Alan Bennett's finest dramatic achievements. First broadcast on BBC TV and BBC Radio 4 in the 1980s and 1990s, they won a host of awards and huge popular acclaim, and remain among his most admired works today.

I Capture the Castle: A BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation

Toby Jones and Holliday Grainger star in a new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Dodie Smith's enduringly popular coming-of-age novel. In the 1930s, 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain lives in a crumbling ruin of a castle in the Suffolk countryside. Her father, an author wrestling with writer's block, spends his time reading detective stories; her bohemian stepmother, Topaz, is an artist's model; and her beautiful older sister, Rose, is determined to escape the poverty of their existence - ideally by marriage to a rich man.

Alan Bennett: Keeping On Keeping On: Diaries 2005-2014

Alan Bennett narrates the latest installment of his diaries, as heard on BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week. Following on from Alan Bennett's best-selling, award-winning prose collections Writing Home and Untold Stories, Keeping On Keeping On is a third anthology featuring his unique observations, recollections and reminiscences. At its heart is his latest published collection of diaries.

The Uncommon Reader

Shortlisted for the Audiobook Download of the Year, 2007.When the queen chases a straying corgi through the grounds of Buckingham Palace, she happens upon the City of Westminster travelling library, and begins a journey of discovery.

Alan Bennett: Plays: BBC Radio Dramatisations

A unique collection of 12 full-cast BBC Radio productions of plays by Alan Bennett. The titles are: 40 Years On, A Visit from Miss Prothero, Say Something Happened, Kafka's Dick, Two in Torquay, The Madness of George III, The History Boys, An Englishman Abroad, A Question of Attribution, The Lady in the Van, Cocktail Sticks and The Last of the Sun.

Dixon of Dock Green: 12 Episodes of the BBC Radio 4 Drama

David Calder, David Tennant and Hamish Clark star in these BBC Radio 4 dramas based on the original TV series. George Dixon became one of the best-known and most-loved fictional policemen during the course of three decades of BBC TV's Dixon of Dock Green, in which he was played by Jack Warner. In these 12 radio adaptations, he once again upholds the law on the streets of 1950s Dock Green. David Calder stars as PC George Dixon, with David Tennant and Hamish Clark as PC Andy Dixon.

Alan Bennett: A Question Of Attribution (Dramatisation)

In 1956, Sir Anthony Blunt, pillar of the Establishment and respected Knight of the Realm, is working as Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures. Perfectly at home in the corridors of Buckingham Palace, he frequently encounters Her Majesty as he works on her paintings and has a special fondness for one particular Titian. However, there is one small problem: the painting, like Blunt himself, is a fake.

The Jane Austen BBC Radio Drama Collection: Six BBC Radio Full-Cast Dramatisations

A collection of BBC radio full-cast dramatisations of Jane Austen's six major novels. Jane Austen is one of the finest writers in the English language, and this volume includes all six of her classic novels. Mansfield Park: on a quest to find a position in society, Fanny Price goes to live with her rich aunt and uncle. Northanger Abbey: young, naïve Catherine Morland receives an invitation to stay at the isolated Gothic mansion Northanger Abbey.

Alan Bennett: Stories: Read by Alan Bennett

A unique collection of eight Alan Bennett stories, read by the author. Alan Bennett is one of Britain's best-loved authors and an acclaimed storyteller. This exclusive compilation includes eight of his best tales, collected together for the first time. Here is his celebrated, iconic memoir 'The Lady in the Van'; as well as two fascinating autobiographical accounts of his family and childhood.

The History Boys (Dramatised)

Richard Griffiths, Clive Merrison, and Frances de la Tour star as part of the National Theatre cast. At a boys' grammar school in Sheffield, eight boys are being coached for the Oxbridge entrance exams. It is the mid-eighties, and the main concern of the unruly bunch of bright sixth-formers is getting out, starting university and starting life.

It begins with just a few people falling ill. Another flu virus that spreads around the globe. And then the reports begin that people are dying.... When most of the world's population is wiped out, a handful of survivors are left to pick up the pieces. Cities become graveyards. Technology becomes largely obsolete. Mankind must start again....

Shardlake: Dissolution: BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation

A thrilling BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation based on CJ Sansom's best-selling Tudor crime novel. Winter, 1537. Henry VIII has declared himself Supreme Head of the Church and instructed his Chief Minister, Thomas Cromwell, to dissolve England's religious houses and seize their wealth. But Cromwell's plot to bring down the abbeys has hit a snag - one of the King's Commissioners has been found brutally murdered in Scarnsea monastery, on the south coast of Kent.

Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days

For years Jeanette Winterson has loved writing a new story at Christmastime, and here she brings together 12 of her brilliantly imaginative, funny and bold tales. For the 12 Days of Christmas - a time of celebration, sharing and giving - she offers these 12 plus one: a personal story of her own Christmas memories. These tales give the listener a portal into the spirit of the season, where time slows down and magic starts to happen. Perfect for listening to by the fire with loved ones or while traveling home for the holidays.

Alan Bennett: Diaries 1980-1990

Alan Bennett's gentle, wry observations of life have made him one of the country's best-loved and most famous authors. He reads extracts from his best-selling diaries which offer a fascinating insight into his life - the work on location, life in Camden and fond, poignant memories of his childhood and home life.

Queen Lucia: The BBC Radio 4 dramatisation

Barbara Jefford is the hilariously outrageous Lucia in this BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of the novel by E.F. Benson. Lucia is the uncrowned queen of 1920s provincial society, the Everest of social climbers and the most delicious of snobs. In the pastoral serenity of the village of Riseholme, Lucia and her unforgettable cronies face up to an Indian guru, spiritualism, and a cultural usurper.

Home Front: Series One: The powerful BBC Radio 4 First World War drama

The first series of a major BBC Radio 4 drama serial tracking the fortunes of a group of characters on the home front. Each episode was broadcast exactly 100 years after the events it portrays, through which the characters struggle to maintain normality while Britain is involved in the First World War.

The Diary of Samuel Pepys: The BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation

Kris Marshall and Katherine Jakeways star as Mr & Mrs Pepys in this BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of the world famous diaries. Samuel Pepys was 26 when he decided to start keeping a diary, in January 1660. For the next 10 years he faithfully recorded the day's events and confessed his innermost thoughts. That diary has since become one of our most important, and fascinating, historical documents. Pepys gave us eyewitness accounts of some of the great events of the 17th century, including the Great Fire of London and the Second Dutch War.

When the Dog Dies: Series 4: The BBC Radio 4 sitcom

Ronnie Corbett returns for the final series of the sitcom that reunites him with the writers of his hit comedy Sorry - Ian Davidson and Peter Vincent. Granddad Sandy Hopper is happily growing old with his dog, Henry, and his lodger, Dolores. But his children think Dolores is a gold digger and are keen for Sandy to downsize - something he promises he'll do 'when the dog dies'. In the meantime, he's busy providing a guiding hand to his family and helping out when (frequent) emergencies occur.

My Family and Other Animals: BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatization

Celia Imrie and Toby Jones star in this BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Gerald Durrell's much-loved comic gem. My Family and Other Animals is the classic tale of naturalist Gerald Durrell's magical 1930s childhood on prewar Corfu. His descriptions of his eccentric family and his encounters with the local creatures are full of humour and charm.

The Cazalets: The Epic Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramatisation

Penelope Wilton narrates BBC Radio 4's epic dramatisation of the treasured family saga Elizabeth Jane Howard's five book chronicle of the upper-middle class. Cazalet family begins in 1938, as siblings Hugh, Edward, Rupert and Rachel join together for another family holiday at Home Place, their house in the Sussex countryside. During the course of The Light Years, Marking Time, Confusion, Casting Off and All Change, the progress of their lives, and those of their children, will be charted.

Publisher's Summary

An eccentric old lady moves into a quiet street in Camden Town. There she remains, installed in her van in glorious self-sufficiency, until the council instructs her to move on. Then a kind homeowner invites her to move her van into his garden - where she stays for the next 15 years. This is the fascinating story of the genteel vagrant who found a unique place in Alan Bennett's life and writing.

But the drama is as much about the author himself as Miss Shepherd. Why did Alan Bennett let her commandeer his driveway? Was he acting out of kindness, weakness or hidden guilt over not spending enough time with his own mother? Did he always subconsciously plan to exploit Miss Shepherd for literary profit?

Thought provoking and moving, The Lady in the Van tackles profound questions about social responsibility, homelessness and mental illness with a lightness of touch characteristic of Bennett the master storyteller.

With a full cast including Adrian Scarborough, Marcia Warren and Alan Bennett, this bittersweet comic tale stars Maggie Smith as Miss Shepherd.

Alan Bennet's lady in the van is none other than Maggie Smith who gives a wonderful performance. This true story recounts a tale of a real character, an eccentric. I was brought up in Camden in the early sixties and there were several eccentrics living there from the lady who accosted every man asking if he were Mr Daly, the old man in my street who lived in a house full of newspapers piled up everywhere and the shellshock man who wandered around spitting out imaginary mud from his mouth. As he was quite elderly I suppose he really had been in the First World War. Just to say that I do not doubt the authenticity of this lady. Bravo to Alan Bennet who allowed her to stay in his garden for all those years. It will have you laughing out loud at times, disgusted and maybe even tearful.

What a wonderfully written story, pathos and humour in spades.I love the arguing that goes on in Alan's head as he has the devil on his shoulder while dealing with the devil in the van.Can't wait for the film!

This BBC radio play (based on a true story) starring the great Maggie Smith is enormously entertaining, full of laugh-out-loud moments and wonderful characterizations as well as philosophical musings and relevant social commentary. What it's NOT strong on is any real plot; it's quite simply just the tale of a genteel, unwittingly hilarious, homeless old woman who lives out of her van and imposes on reluctant playwright and homeowner Alan Bennett by living on his property for so long that she becomes, like it or not, a part of his life.

What's to love: Maggie Smith in one of the best and most original roles of her life as the old lady, delivering some of the most preposterous and side-splittingly funny lines of her career. What's not to love: Alan Bennett (clearly a talented playwright but just as clearly not a natural actor), unwisely cast as himself (and sometimes as two different and contradictory versions of himself, Alan One and Alan Two), who pretty much says all his lines in kind of a wimpy, quavery "Why me?" tone of voice. It also is dubious whether he is fully successful at drawing analogies between the old lady and his own declining mother, and analyzing his own motivations for helping the old lady. All of the supporting characters are well drawn and superbly voiced, however.

One of the funniest moments occurs at the very end of the play, when a seminal moment has occurred (not to give too much away), and the old lady delivers a great belly laugh, noting that "I came for three months...and stayed for over fifteen years!"

Now to see the new movie!

4 of 6 people found this review helpful

R. Wolfe

31/07/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"The Lady in the Van"

What a pleasure to hear Maggie Smith's voice and Alan Bennett's wit. I thoroughly enjoyed listening.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

Gerry-louise

USA

14/07/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Hilarious, sad, and entertaining!"

A short funny and somewhat morbid interaction between middle age and the elderly! Worth it.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

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